A client in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) associates with an Access Point (AP) to get connectivity, for example, to and from the Internet, and to further communicate with other clients via the WLAN. A client selects and relies on one AP for all data flows, although different APs may provide the better performance for different data flows. A data flow includes information, which may be for one application or service. The client can send or receive data flows via an AP in the WLAN and the data flows may pass through the WLAN to the Internet or another network.
When the connectivity of the client to an AP degrades, such as due to mobility or interference, the client may connect to another AP if the WLAN includes other APs in the client's communication range. Conventionally, a client may select a new AP based on Received Signal Strength (RSS). However, if a client has multiple data flows, one data flow may not necessarily benefit from an AP that has the best RSS. For example, a client's voice over IP (VoIP) data flow may benefit from an AP that provides the lowest latency channel rather than the best RSS, but another client data flow may benefit more from an AP providing the best RSS. Thus, selecting a new AP based on RSS may not benefit all existing client data flows.
Furthermore, conventionally, the client's all data flows in the WLAN are provided via a single AP to the client. However, as described above, a single AP may not provide the best communication channel for different types of data flows. Thus, at least one data flow may suffer performance degradation even though another data flow may benefit from the new AP.